Its bad enough work has cut back our budget and makes us pay for our own membership dues and limits our training (again due to budget constraints), but to not have AICP address my concerns when I e-mailed them, is sad. Maybe I can move a few blocks south into Canada so I would not have to be concerned about things such as log books and whether or not NHI and NTI training is considered good enough?

I know my local chapter hardly ever offers training, and when they do, there is always an exorbinant fee and no mention of AICP credits.

I support the concept of mandatory certification maintenance, I just don't particularly care for all that AICP proposed and has now approved. I still contend that the state and local chapters (mine in particular) will have to do a much better job of offering training, seminars, etc. to members so that we can earn these credits without having to take out a loan to attend the national conference.

Well....

On one hand I'm ok with mandatory continuing education....but....

The local chapters better step up big time to register every seminar and session available in each state with AICP! For me it is the NBI and LORMAN seminars that we use most. Kinda sad that AIA seems to have every single seminar registered for credit.....even the one's involving door hinges and modern peep hole architecture But my chapter can't seem to be proactive enough to do that.....The APA web site has no mention of how much it will cost to register "other" providers...???? I'm going to be really pushing our chapter to register everything they can..... It would have been easy to make a list of all pre-approved seminar and providers....

The local chapters better step up big time to register every seminar and session available in each state with AICP!

I feel similar. It's not the chapters I'm worried about, it's our Regional Planning Organization. They do a lot of training that we, as a dues paying agency, I get to go to, but now APA says they have to pay to allow me to get credit for the classes that I've been going to all along. I'm afraid that the agencies that provide training for me aren't going to register as "official", so I'll end up having to go to twice as much training.

Time to Open your Wallets

As expected, the CM proposal is approved. And I notice that all 32 credits must come from registered providers who will pay a registration fee. I can't wait to see what the fee will be and how cumbersome the review process. As I've said before, the primary focus was to consolidate the APAs influence and raise some revenue. Professional education has very little to do with this, and we'll see just how little when the registration process and fee is announced. Obviously, many solid providers won't bother.

I just notified the boss man, and he said he'll try to get it budgeted next year. There are three AICPers in my office. At least I picked up a whooping 6 credits at my state APA conference last month . They better offer a lot more online stuff, or other training opps that don't require travel, cause I don't want to be away from my little girl too often.

On the other hand, I am somewhat happy about this new requirement, cause it really didn't seem right that someone who passed a test 20 years ago, but is totally ignorant of planning issues today, can go around saying they are AICP.

I don't think continuing ed is that bad of an idea. That being said, one would hope that the APA will look at the number of credits they are assigning to sessions/courses to make sure it is feasible for people to get to 32 credits in two years. In reviewing our most recent state conference, the maximum credits you could receive were 11.7 for all THREE days (and this was attending back to back sessions each day.)
Eight out of the nine planners in my office are AICP, it is going to be difficult for us all to meet the new requirements with recent budget cuts. Looks like it will be coming out of our own pockets.

I can't wait to see what the cost will be. Long gone are the days of the voluntary program and having your state training person approve courses. The only thing I liked was removing the requirement that so many are APA hours but that sting came back with the requirement that courses are registered with APA. I wouldn't be surprised I just gave up my AICP eventually if I have to pay for it all...I already pay the annual membership.

The other funny thing is that they looked at other CE requirements from AMA, ASLA...etc. Don't those people on average make more $$? And it's easier for them to get the hours in it seems because they have more training resources.

Or can I be a member of the American Institute of Cyburbian Planners?

Information necessitating a change of design will be conveyed to the designer after and only after the design is complete. (Often called the 'Now They Tell Us' Law) - Fyfe's First Law of Revision

We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans. -- George W. Bush , Scranton, PA -- 09/06/2000

Awe....

Originally posted by GeogPlanner

I can't wait to see what the cost will be. Long gone are the days of the voluntary program and having your state training person approve courses. The only thing I liked was removing the requirement that so many are APA hours but that sting came back with the requirement that courses are registered with APA. I wouldn't be surprised I just gave up my AICP eventually if I have to pay for it all...I already pay the annual membership.

The other funny thing is that they looked at other CE requirements from AMA, ASLA...etc. Don't those people on average make more $$? And it's easier for them to get the hours in it seems because they have more training resources.

Or can I be a member of the American Institute of Cyburbian Planners?

Not picking on Geog. Planner here....just saying.....

NO AICP planner should EVER take another job without first providing the employer with the requirements and making sure they will pay for the education and membership cost.

NO AICP planner should EVER take another job without first providing the employer with the requirements and making sure they will pay for the education and membership cost.

Excellent point. If I had to do over again I would have made sure that normal out-of-town conferences (APA national and state) would be paid for as part of my salary negotiation for the job that I have now.

Tell me about it....

Originally posted by cch

But it also says that each two-year period begins on January 1? WTF?

I've ammassed over 60 hours of continuing education since Sep. 2006 in job seminars and conferences!! All of that appears to be "out the window!" Not that much of it would count anyway, since all but 8 credits (2 days of APA state conf!) were not "approved!"

NO AICP planner should EVER take another job without first providing the employer with the requirements and making sure they will pay for the education and membership cost.

Little Rant over.............

so far, i'm striking out on that as a negotiation strategy. i left my last job b/c of lack of support for professional development. the state is much better, but frankly planners are a new breed in the area i am in and people just do not understand what AICP is. some of us are in the process of educating them...and i am doing that now to get a trip to chicago for PTS in june.

frankly, i don't think that having AICP should be such a financial burden. it's not cheap to be a professional in an area where salaries are good...but i go back to my previous post and say that i'm no doctor/accountant/registered architect...

Information necessitating a change of design will be conveyed to the designer after and only after the design is complete. (Often called the 'Now They Tell Us' Law) - Fyfe's First Law of Revision

We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans. -- George W. Bush , Scranton, PA -- 09/06/2000

well....

Originally posted by GeogPlanner

so far, i'm striking out on that as a negotiation strategy. i left my last job b/c of lack of support for professional development. the state is much better, but frankly planners are a new breed in the area i am in and people just do not understand what AICP is. some of us are in the process of educating them...and i am doing that now to get a trip to chicago for PTS in june.

frankly, i don't think that having AICP should be such a financial burden. it's not cheap to be a professional in an area where salaries are good...but i go back to my previous post and say that i'm no doctor/accountant/registered architect...

It doesn't matter anymore.....as far as I'm concerned, we are even more valuable than an Architect or Engineer now......someone should figure out if AICP requires the most CE hours??? I think the economic developers might still have us...and certain real estate professionals...depending on the state....

The National Conference is now a MANDATORY meeting for me......just read my new budget....and I WILL MAKE it an issue

I hope they ask for input regarding their "unanimous" decision. Being professionals, I'm sure that they've established benchmarks for measuring how much the profession and the public view of the profession is improved by their action.

I'm glad I'm getting out of planning and dropped AICP a few years ago. Unless there is a comprehensive plan in place to provide training uniformly, somebody's going to get screwed. For instance, my jurisdiction is really cheap and won't pay for out of state conferences. Then there is the usual (yeah, I know, no pity from some people) issue of single parents trying to get out of town credits.

What I'd like to do is, after the post-conference dust clears, see if anyone from the APA will answer questions you might have about the new requirements. I"ll drop them a line in a while, and if they agree to it, collect questions from you to forward to them.

I run a smaller office and the only planner on staff. It's hard for me to get away for vacation let alone training. Plus, my budget is pretty tight and I have other staff members who need training in their areas. That means, the money comes out of my own pocket. Further, I've worked in smaller jurisdictions with smaller budgets. I don't mean to whine, the CE might be enough to drive good people out of AICP because they can't afford it. My interest in planning has been small town, rural and agriculture, so I have a great deal of empathy for the planners who work in the smaller jurisdictions.

I just finished a course in CPTED from the Universiy of Louieville. Is it certified and how do I find out. I also took a course the the local community college in Excel. Our community college has some nice course for professionals. This was an Excel II course, so do I get credit for that??

It appres that the course have to meet some type of approval from APA, good luck to that. Is APA going to require all the univeristies to submit their professional development course to APA for approval?????

I doubt if APA can enforce all these rules and regualtions. Then what do we tell our empoyers, will they give us the time off....

I'm at the end of my career, if they wan to take away my AICP,let them--screw em, it will save me some money.......

Good question! Should we believe that all the approved courses in the current CPD are still approved if taken after April 14th OR does everything that's not APA born and bred have to be re-approved for CM?

FYI, I'm also at the point where I can I can take or leave AICP. Went to last years national, but not this one. Just p*sses me off that they chose this point in time to mandate the program.

AICP is going to price itself out of the market. I don't think that many public employers require it. It's more the domain of private consultants, and I run into more "Certified" planners pimping in condemnations than anywhere else. I just don't know that many planners that really needed certification to get or hold a job in the public sector.